Storm's POV

It's official. Stella hates my guts. Honestly, she has a right to after what I told her the last time we spoke; she was right and I was wrong but like typical Storm Jackson, I didn't want to admit it when I had my chance. Now, I might not even get the opportunity to apologise and make amends because Stella's avoiding me and frustratingly, she's excellent at doing that.

When I try talking to her in classes we sit next to each other, I might as well be a brick wall because she completely ignores me. One of my personality traits is that I'm really stubborn and usually, people(Mum, Dad and River) describe it as a horrible trait to be gifted with but I believe that it does has its advantages. After noticing that trying to chat with Stella wasn't helping my situation, I started poking her with my pen in the arm. At first, they were very light jabs, but the more she was blanking me, the harder they became.

"Will you quit it?" Stella half-asks, half-hisses at me.

Aha! Even though she's only said four words to me(and they're not in a polite tone), at least she's stopped giving me the cold-shoulder.

"Not until you let me apologise," I whisper.

"Storm Jackson, Stella Johnson, is there a problem?" the teacher questions.

Just as I'm about to say no, Stella jumps in.

"Yes, there is! Could I move seats, please, miss?" she asks sweetly.

Of course, the teacher says yes and moves Stella elsewhere because she's such an angel. As she transfers her bags to her new seat, she victoriously smirks at me. Ha! Stella's won this battle but she hasn't won the war.

Because I've lost access to conversing with her during class, I start to search for her at break and lunch. I know that when she had first joined Minehead Academy, Stella used to spend her time at the library so I check there first.

The librarian, Mrs George, an old lady with grey, bushy hair and the weirdest fashion sense I have ever set eyes on, stopped typing on her computer as soon as I entered the room, a sceptical look on her face as she peered over her brown rimmed spectacles. I scanned the library that had some students at desks, absorbed by the books they were reading, some shifting through the shelves of stacked novels, some finishing off homework at the computers and some at the printer, waiting for their documents. None of them were Stella.

I joined the end of the line of students who were getting the books they wanted to borrow logged into the school library system at the counter where Mrs George sat behind.

"Well, well, well, Storm Jackson!" the librarian exclaimed when it was my turn to be attended to.

Poor woman! She's getting her hopes up that I'm going to be one of her regulars! As if! I promised myself at the beginning of Year Seven that I would never join the community of library nerds and I'm sticking to my vow. This is just a one-off!

I plaster the biggest, sweetest smile I can master onto my face.

"It's just as nice to see you too, Mrs George!" I gush.

"So, what can I do for you?"

"I was wondering if Stella Johnson was here."

"Oh yes, what a coincidence! She's right here!"

Mrs George searches frantically around the room before a confused expression arrives on her face. She scratches her head thoughtfully.

"That's strange! I'm sure she was just here!" Mrs George ponders," Sonia, wasn't Stella Johnson here?"

Sonia, a pale, blond-haired girl with glasses, appears as soon as Mrs George calls.

"Yes, she was, miss!"

"Well, that proves I'm not going delusional!" Mrs George breathes a sigh of relief," That girl is so quiet I didn't even notice she left!"

"Thanks, anyway," I say, slightly disappointed.

I start to leave.

"I hope I'll see you here again, Storm!" Mrs George calls out.

Over my dead body!

I'm not stupid: I know that the reason Stella left was because she had seen me before I had seen her. She was much better at this game than I was.

Maybe, I should just give up...

Minehead train station was crowded; there were people dressed up smartly(probably going to work), groups of the elderly, families and a group of loud, noisy school children. In case you haven't caught up, those loud, noisy school children were us.

"Ah, Storm, you're here!" Miss Cooke greets before looking at her clipboard which holds the register," Follow me and I'll show you where you're sitting."

I stepped onto the train that was going to take us to London. Instantly, the smell of coffee hit my nostrils and the temptation to buy one is overwhelming but I remember how Mum had told me that food and drink on trains were expensive and bad quality.

I could really do with cup of caffeine, though.

As if to show my tiredness, I yawn; I couldn't sleep last night because of the excitement and to make it worse, I had to wake up early to ensure I didn't miss the train.

"Miss, can I buy myself a coffee?" someone who has already found their seat asks, reading my mind," I have money."

"No, nobody's buying a coffee!" Miss Cooke announces before lowering her voice to a murmur," You, kids, are already hyper as it is!"

The seating arrangement has been sorted so that some passengers sit in the two seats across either side of the aisle while some get to sit at the table, which has four seats. I cross my fingers; I would like to sit at the table. Unfortunately, Miss Cooke doesn't stop at one of the tables.

"You will be sitting next to..." my English teacher is about to tell me the name of the person I'm sitting next to but my eyeline interrupts her.

Stella. She's sat in the window seat...and she doesn't look happy at the sight of me. I smile innocently at her and take the seat next to her. Miss Cooke doesn't stay for long before she starts bustling about further down the carriage. To my surprise, Stella hasn't openly refused to me sitting next to her(but maybe it's because she didn't have the chance to as our English teacher has already left).

"Hey," I greet softly.

Stella ignores me while she bends down to retrieve something out of her bag that lays by her feet. Before she sits up, there's the sound of unzipping, rustling and zipping. I realise that the object she was fetching out of her bag was a book. Flipping open the book to where the bookmark had been placed, Stella starts to read. I see that she's going to play by that card! If she has no choice but stick with me for the whole train ride, Stella's just going to pretend that I don't exist and she'll have no disturbances from me. Well, she thinks that she'll have no disturbances from me. I smirk; I can be known for not following plans when I don't like the sound of them.

In a swift movement, I grab the book that Stella was so absorbed in with my right hand and extend the arm as far as I can in the direction towards the aisle so that she can't reach it. Immediately, she's on her feet, stretching to reach the book. Again and again, Stella attempted to reclaim her precious book, but to no avail and it was becoming more and more evident that she was becoming frustrated and it was entertaining.

"Give it to me!" she hisses, anger flashing in her eyes.

"Ah, you've finally stopped giving me the silent treatment!" I exclaim.

"Don't start prancing around! I just need my book back and we can go back to being enemies!"

"I'll only return your book after you hear me out!"

"And what if I don't?" Stella has one eyebrow raised, challenging me," What you're going to do? Rip out the pages?"

"Oh, thanks for the idea!"

I lay the book on my lap and flick open to the first page. There are a bunch of letters - something about copyright - but I'm not interested in reading. I start to rip the page; I smirk at Stella, daring her to say something. She doesn't say anything so I continue ripping the same page. This time, Stella can't take it.

"Ok, fine, I'll hear you out! Just please stop ripping the page! It's a library book! Mrs George will make me pay if there's any damage!" she pleads.

Stella, Stella, Stella! You've fallen into my trap! I shut the book, which earns a sigh of relief from Stella, and present it to her.

"Let me guess, you go to the library at the break and lunch? Because it's funny: when I went there, Mrs George and that girl Sarah-Sally-Sonia-whatever-her-name-is said that they were sure that you had just been there before I arrived."

It's my turn to raise an eyebrow as I say this and it works because red spots appear in Stella's cheeks.

"Well, now, that I have the chance, I want to say sorry," I change my tone to a more sombre one.

Stella looks like she's actually listening to me so I continue.

"I was angry because you were right and I was wrong; I knew that but didn't want to admit it. I blurted out stuff I didn't mean and I totally regret now. If I could, I would take back everything I said to you."

There's a few seconds of silence as my apology sinks in. Suddenly, Stella bursts into laughter...what's going on? I've replayed every reaction I expected from her but being unable to stop laughing isn't one of them. Finally, after what seems like forever, she regains her composure. Anybody walking past our seats wouldn't think she was just laughing uncontrollably seconds ago.

"Sorry, but did Storm Jackson just apologised and admitted she was wrong!" Stella exclaims, loud enough for the whole carriage to hear her.

Hahaha, very funny, I think drily.

"So, are we cool now?" I ask.

"Yeah, but just remember it's because I don't want you to start stabbing me with a pen or something even worse!" Stella chuckles.

I start chuckling too and that's when it's announced that the train will be leaving the station...

What a day! I made up with Stella, which wasn't that easy, went to London(even if it was just for day) and watched Romeo and Juliet at the Globe Theatre. Once the train had arrived in London, we ate our packed lunch at a nearby café.

For my lunch, I had packed ham sandwiches, a Greek yoghurt, a packet of cheese and onion crisps(my favourite flavour) and a Snickers bar along with a bottle of lemon and lime flavoured water and Ribena. While I was preparing my packed lunch, River was watching me critically and like always, sticking her nose into other people's business by remarking how I'm only going to London for a day and that, according to her, I was packing enough food for a week. Only when I threatened to pack the remnants of the chocolate digestives for my lunch did she shut that big mouth of hers.

Once we finished consuming our lunch, the teachers led us to the theatre and on our journey, I absorbed everything I could about London. Well, at least this part of the city. Stella told me that in books set in different parts of London, it seemed like they were separate countries, not different areas. I could confirm this with all the movies I watched set in London since Miss Cooke informed us all of the trip, which River wasn't pleased about because I was hogging the TV. However, despite all the differences all the parts of London have, they were all similar when it came to the factor of how busy they are.

There are so many people! Of course I would think that: the Borough of Southwark have over twenty-six times the demonyms than Minehead. Although there's no official evidence that says so, I think the traffic is also twenty-six times more here. There is a lot of hooting but my attention is more drawn to the red double-decker buses.

They're real! Well, of course, they're real but they seem more believable in front of my eyes rather than the TV screen!

If only I could ride on on one! Even a one minute bus journey could make this trip so much more magical! I stare longingly at the front seats on the top deck of the bus; what a view it must be! I promise myself that next time I come to London, I will sit at the front on the top deck of the red double-decker buses.

Apart from the population and traffic, there were so many tall buildings that reached the sky that I could have mistaken for skyscrapers.

However, Shakespeare's Globe was only eleven metres tall. There was a brick wall surrounding the theatre where posters advertising plays were stuck and grey iron gates that reached a few metres higher. Even though the reconstruction of the building is more modern, the style stuck to its Elizabethan roots with its shape, structure, painted style and the materials used(the thatched roof).

The actors and actresses in the play performed well because it was very authentic from the Shakespearean language to how each of the characters are portrayed to all the events like the fight scenes etc. I knew I had to savour the two hours before I was bundled off back home as who knew when I would have the opportunity to watch a play at a theatre again. Although I tried to make each hour, each second, each minute that passed by, time travelled too fast because before I know it, the performance is over.

The teachers rushed us out of the theatre so we wouldn't miss our train but secretly inside, I was dreading leaving the city so I wished that we would miraculously miss the train.

How ungrateful of you, Storm! Today couldn't have gone any better and here you are not wanting it to end!

Unfortunately, we didn't miss our train and we were going home. For the whole train journey, I remained silent while I wallowed in all the memories that I created today. Thankfully, Stella respected my desire to be silent and left me alone in my thoughts. If I had been placed next to Emma or Sophie, they would have nagged me to join in the conversation they were trying to make and called me boring if I didn't. What was so boring about being quiet? Many people would disagree with me but in my opinion, it's better to keep quiet if you have nothing to say than talk on and on and talk absolute rubbish.

When we arrived at Minehead station, our parents/guardians were waiting to pick us up. Somewhere in me I had false hope that Mum and Dad would be there but I don't know why I was so disappointed when in their place, River was there in her hoodie and joggers, headphones on. Maybe I was hoping that I could tell them everything about my day even if I knew half the time they didn't bother to ask.

"Work?" is the first thing I say to River as I approach her. I don't bother to specify who I'm talking about because even if she wasn't studying to be a doctor, she would have figured it out.

"They got called in."

How many times has my sister had to tell me that sentence? How many times have I heard that sentence from River?

Across from us, Kate, Harry, Jake, Josh and the twins are waiting for Stella. I smile sadly at how much they look like a family even though the children aren't theirs and the adults aren't their parents. River notices me staring and turns also look at the family. I don't know whether or not I imagined my sister's frown so I question her to confirm it.

"Ok?" I ask.

River turns around abruptly to face me.

"Yeah, of course I am!"

The smile now on her face doesn't reach her eyes and my tired brain comes up with a thought that maybe she's not.